by Lisa Grace
“I think that might be a good idea.”
“Okay, let me make a few calls and see what we can set up.”
***
Julian whistled, “This is not cheap.”
“Don't worry, when we find the treasure, I'm sure the Smithsonian will pay you back.”
“Funny.” Julian picked up his phone and spoke. Twenty minutes later he said, “Booked us to fly out at one this afternoon. Let's try and get the tour done in an hour before we break the bank.”
***
“So are you here for the dinosaur tour?” The pilot asked.
“Dinosaurs?”
“Jurassic Park? Most people want to see the islands 'cause of the movies. Or are you here to see the sharks and the waterfalls?”
“We're on our honeymoon,” Keiko said clasping Julian's arm. “I thought looking at the islands would be romantic.”
“We'd like to fly over these three.” Julian showed the pilot on the map.
“Sure, bud. Get in and buckle up.” After the pilot turned their mics on, and checked their belt harnesses, they were good to go.
Julian took out his camera. He snapped shots as they flew over. At Caño Island, he pointed down towards the water.
The pilot noticed and spoke loudly into his mic, “Sharks. The reefs surrounding that one attract them. Not recommended for swimmers.”
Julian smiled at his joke while he continued to snap more photos.
After they landed, Keiko gave Julian a big hug. “Thanks, honey.”
The pilot said, “Hope you got your money's worth.”
“The islands were breathtaking. Thanks for the tour.”
“You're welcome.”
After Julian and Keiko drove off the pilot took out his cell phone and made a quick call.
“Just had a couple want a tour of some of the islands, but they didn’t ask for the dino tour, and the guy snapped photos the whole time instead of being romantic with his lady. Said they’re honeymooners.”
There was a pause while the pilot listened.
“No, nothing else. Just suspicious. Name on the credit card? Julian Lone Wolf.”
***
Marcos poured himself another shot of guar as he hung up the phone. He turned to his companion.
“Looks like we may have a fresh lead.” He walked to his desk and checked his phone, typing in the name, Julian Lone Wolf.
“Yes, I'd say we have a lead.”
“How so?” Said the bearded man watching a game in Spanish on the TV.
“The couple that found the star for that old USA flag? Remember that story?”
“Yes?”
“They’re down here on their honeymoon, but took time to fly over the most likely suspects for the treasure.”
“So you don’t think it's a coincidence?”
“No. They must have found a clue in that dusty old museum they work for.”
“You’re sure they’re just not interested in the legends?”
The guy shrugged. “Maybe they’ve run across one we haven't of heard yet.”
“Find out which resort they’re at and put a tail on them. I want to know what they know.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
***
“Come on, let’s go down to the beach for a morning swim,” Ray said, throwing a towel at Della who was still in bed.
Della looked at the strange hammock strung between the two ends of the room. “I can’t believe you spent the night in that thing and can wake up so perky.” She groaned and put her head back on the pillow. “Go for your swim. I need caffeine first.”
“Well why didn’t you say so.” Ray went to the Keurig and pushed a button. “Coffee coming right up.”
Della groaned. “Just give me one more hour. I really do need my beauty sleep.”
“In your case it works,” Ray said before he left.
Della closed her eyes to enjoy the only part of the trip that might resemble a vacation.
***
Shark Water Island 1818
At the top of the ridge was the old cedar bent by hundreds of years of the wind blowing and shaping it to point inland. Bennett and Randall walked the ridge. “Not where the tree is pointing and not under it. Ask yourself, where is the last place it would be?” Bennett went up and patted the volcanic rock of the slope rising behind them. “In here.”
“We would have to blast.”
“Yes, but not through the rock. We need to disguise it. We dig here, at the base. One sheet of volcanic rock over it.”
“This will take a while.”
"Yes. We will leave a crew of twenty men to split the rock then dig the holding place. It can be done with metal wedges and small charges if we must. The thundering of the waterfall should mask the noise. We will leave Lieutenant Gregory in charge of the operation while you can provide your services aboard ship. While the men are working on this, we will continue to surveille around the island. Are you free this evening?”
“It is a beautiful night for a commitment, Bennett.”
“Yes. Before the men begin to talk it is best to settle the matter.”
“To your mutual agreement?”
“Yes. The lady is not immune to my considerable charm.”
“You serve your country and King well.” Randall grinned.
“Enough talk. We have much work to do. More than we signed on for.”
“The unexpected is always a surprise. May your life be full of less surprises, and more met expectations.” Randall clapped his friend on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Randall. You are a good friend, and officer.”
***
Charles knocked on Mary’s door. “Miss? Here is a letter from the captain.”
“Yes?” she took the letter, opened it, and read:
My dearest Mary,
If this evening pleases you, the weather holds, we are struck for land, and can have the relative privacy of the cove. Our nuptials can be sworn by Randall in front of the officers and God, as witness under his constant stars. I would be honored to have you for wife, for life and eternal love. I swear by my very life, that I will make you as happy a life as can be, and as our Maker allows. As God is my witness, Your faithful servant,
Bennett Graham.
“I am to wait for a reply, miss.” Charles said.
“Yes, Charles.” Mary went to the desk and pulled out stationary and sat down to write with the quill and ink.
My dearest Bennett,
You have found a way to make my fondest wish come true. I long to be your wife more than I can express so poorly by the written word. I pledge you my promise of fidelity, loyalty, and passion. I would be with you constant in thought and prayers. You are the promise of the stars to me, and though I wish to never be parted from you by the sea, I know I can endure the separation required by duty to King and country. While torture being apart will be, I would gladly suffer a hundred heartbreaks for one moment more with you. Tonight, beneath the stars I gladly troth you my all.
Love,
Your dearest Mary
Mary folded the paper over and handed it to Charles. “The captain and I are to be married this evening if the weather holds and the pirates stay at bay.”
Charles looked at Mary admiringly, “Jolly good, miss. He’s a great man and this bodes well for us all.”
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”
“Some believe it is bad luck to have a lady onboard. Ships can be mighty jealous of their captains. But I think it is an old wives’ tale, and in these modern times, not all hold sway by those tales.”
“I am glad you are so modern in your thinking, Charles,” Mary said though she noticed Charles superstitiously knocked on the wood of the doorframe then crossed himself as he left her room.
Mary sat on her bed looking at the clothes she had brought. Seven dresses. Which would be the best? She’d brought dark and bright colors, the better to hide paint or stains. Water would have spotted her best silks, so she’d left those at home. She de
cided on the bright blue that matched the water on a sunny day. She’d worn it the first day she’d met Bennett. Maybe he would remember. She had brought a white muslin scarf to tie back her hair on windy days. She could pin it in as a veil.
She sat on the edge of her bed, and clutched at her stomach as it flipped. What would her parents think? This was not how she had imagined her wedding day. In truth, she’d never imagined her wedding day because she could not think of one boy or man she would want to have been ‘trothed to for life.
She did want a life with Bennett. This much she was sure of. Today was nothing to be nervous about. He was what she wanted, and that is all that mattered. Papa and Mother would survive, they had a new child on the way that would occupy their time, and with her safely married, they wouldn’t have to worry about her prospects or her ruined reputation.
After the survey, England would be next. Not the round of fun parties and balls she had imagined, but maybe she could persuade Bennett to take her on trips to sketch some of the sights. She would enjoy the time she had with him before his next voyage took him away from her. One thing she knew from Magdela’s passing, and the pirate attacks was, one was never guaranteed tomorrow, so take your happiness while and when you find it.
***
As the sun sat low in the sky, Mary heard a knock on her cabin door, “Miss Welch? The officers are ready on the deck.”
It was Charles, the cabin boy's voice. Mary took a deep breath and smoothed out her dress.
When she opened the door, Charles said, “You look beautiful!”
Mary smiled.
“These are for you, from the captain.” Charles held out a bouquet of tropical leaves and flowers. “Mr. Chauncey, the botanist, assembled it from the specimens the captain picked.”
“How thoughtful.” She recognized the jasmine and some of the orchids. The arrangement was wild, colorful, and perfect. She burned it into her memory so she could sketch it later.
“You look very dashing, Charles.”
Charles swept his blonde hair out of his eyes, and blushed. Charles was wearing his best formal naval uniform, a red coat with brass buttons, and white-ruffled shirt. She wasn’t aware he even had one. He held out his arm just like a gentleman. “I’ll escort you, miss. This is the last time I will call you miss, miss.”
Mary laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that. Everything is happening so fast.”
Charles nodded. “Yes, that’s how things are on the sea. No day is like the next.”
***
Captain Bennett stood near the steerage on the captain’s deck. Randall waited. Neither spoke. The setting sun in the sky turned the undersides of the clouds on the western horizon pink and yellow. He turned to look at the staircase as he saw Randall’s eyes track that way. She emerged carrying the bouquet he had hand-picked on shore that afternoon. Her dark hair shone against the white veil, which shimmered in the light from the setting of the sun. She was stunning. She wore the bright blue dress he’d first seen her in. Her confidence mimicking and amplifying his first impression of her, one of a woman excited by the adventure of life. He smiled, and she rewarded him with a sparkling smile in return. The relief he felt warmed his heart. This was the right decision, one he would be glad he made for the rest of his life, of this he was sure. She climbed the stairs to the upper deck, never taking her eyes off him, closely followed by Charles. Once on the deck, she reached out her hand to Bennett as he took it lightly in his, enveloping her small soft warmness into his strong gentle grip.
Randall said the words that bound them together in front of God and man. Bennett couldn’t stop staring at Mary, while she never glanced away from his face.
Once the bands were pronounced, “What God has put together, may no man tear asunder.”
Bennett took a ring out of his pocket, “This ring was my mother’s.” The ring, a beautiful sapphire, sparkled. Bennett slipped it onto Mary’s finger. It fit perfectly.
The officers clapped Bennett on the back, and congratulated Mary.
Randall spoke up. “Gentlemen, let us retire to the dining room for the wedding feast and give these newlyweds the last minutes of daylight to themselves.”
When everyone had left the deck, Bennett stroked the veil away from Mary’s face as a gentle breeze blew it around her. He bent down as she tilted her face to his, and kissed her. She threw her arms around his strong shoulders and pressed herself to him. They remained lost in the waves of their passion as the sun sunk below the horizon.
***
Bennett woke before the sunlight came streaming into the windows of his stateroom and watched Mary sleep. She was as beautiful in the dawn as she was at dusk. He pushed back her hair. His touch was enough to rouse her from her sleep. She opened her eyes and smiled.
“Happy?”
She nodded. “You?”
“Very.”
“Would you like tea, or coffee, or cocoa perhaps?”
“I prefer coffee, if you please.” Mary said as she smiled. She sat up, pulling the sheet up, “My clothes. They are still in my room!”
“I will have Charles move your trunks into the front room. We will close the doors. I can leave so you can have your privacy getting dressed.”
Mary placed her hand on his arm as he got up to leave the bed, “You do not have to leave while I dress. I may need your help with the buttons or the hooks.”
She smiled.
“You do realize you may never leave this room again then? I am much better at unbuttoning than buttoning.”
“Well then, you will need the practice.” She ran her hand along his arm.
He leaned over and kissed her slowly. “Let me get our breakfast. I’d given my cabin boy the order to not disturb us this morning.”
“How thoughtful.”
“You mean foresighted,” he said as he eyed her.
“Ah, so it was for your own selfish purposes.”
“Absolutely,” he said as he kissed her again, forgetting all about breakfast.
***
The sailor on the crow’s nest spotted a skiff out past the coast and signaled down to those on deck. The night watch on the deck took a look through his spyglass, then went to notify the officer on command who said, “Keep an eye on them.”
The skiff sailed by the opening to the cove, never slowing on its way to another coast or island.
“Should we tell the captain?”
“Not yet. Just put it in the watch report.” He then thought for a few seconds before speaking, “Double up the men on the watches. Be alert and keep the men moving the treasure. Quiet and speed are greatly to be desired.”
***
Later that morning after Mary dressed with very little help and much hindrance by Bennett, she sat and sketched her bouquet.
“I wish you could see yourself as I do,” Bennett said, “and sketch that.”
“I can, in the looking-glass.”
Bennett laughed. “You will not do yourself justice. If you could catch the light upon your hair, and your radiance...”
“I thought you thought I was an exemplary artiste.”
“You are.”
“I will sketch myself for you,” Mary said.
Bennett smiled. “Thank you. I will carry it on every voyage.”
Mary sighed—“Perhaps you can be assigned another survey and I can join you.”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps? You are a surveyor, what would prevent you from another assignment akin to this?”
“Nothing would prevent me, but if you are with child—”
“Is that your plan?”
Bennett shrugged. “It is inevitable.” Bennett smiled. “I cannot see how it can be prevented from nature taking its course.” Bennett took a sip of his coffee. “A ship is hardly the place for a woman, and especially one in a delicate condition, or one with a babe. We will take you home and set up a proper household.”
Mary sighed. “I would like this survey to last forever. Is that so wrong?” Mary pu
t down her paints and went up to Bennett. She circled her arms around him from behind as he sat at his desk. “I don’t want to think of children or being away from you. I want to draw and paint, and—love you. Why not? That is my plan, and the rest can wait.”
“If you can halt time, you have more power than the moon on the tides.”
“I am going to work on stopping time, between everything else I plan on doing. I have so much I want to do!”
***
Later that morning, Bennett left to get the night report.
“There was a skiff just before dawn. They did not stop, but rounded the island outside the cove. I and the men on watch do not believe they saw us, sir.” The officer assigned to the watch reported.
Bennett nodded. “How is the movement of the treasure progressing?”
“The men are diligent. The hole is almost large enough to hold the treasure. The carpenters have devised a way to chip off large pieces of the lava rock, it is slow going to keep the pieces large enough to appear to be natural rock. Another three days and we should be back to our work.”
“The surveyors?”
“We have the surveyors filling in the details on their maps and soundings, and doing proper measurements of the heights of the mountains. We can use those measurements to more accurately portray the size of the others once we get back to our mission. The botanist is busy cataloging the flora and the fauna for his records.”
“I would like to bring Mrs. Graham to the beach for a picnic lunch.”
“A picnic lunch, sir?”
Bennett looked at the officer without answering.
The officer quickly added, “Yes sir. We will see to it, sir.”
“Thank you. That will be all.”
The wind was kicking up and Bennett looked to the sky. The winds had shifted and were now blowing in from the west. In his experience, this meant there was a large storm at sea. By evening if the winds kept picking up they might be grateful for the shelter of the cove. If this was a large storm, they may be sticking around for more than a few days. Out on the horizon the sky was still clear. If there was a storm, it was far enough out it wouldn’t hit until evening. Moving the treasure would have to halt if the waves kicked up. He wasn’t risking his men's lives, by capsizing, on the heavy boats laden with treasure.